The first part of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the money he made from returning empty jam jars - and this escape is reflected most closely at this time of his life as an...
When Jamie's maternal grandmother dies, he and his brother Tommy are separated - Tommy is taken off to a welfare home and Jamie goes to live with his other grandmother and uncle. His life is far from happy, filled with silence, rejection and bouts of violence.
The Highlands of Scotland. A fight outside the village hall. Robert Menzies lies dead and Allan Innes flees to the hills, pursued by Robert's brother. An old friend, Sandy Ross, tries to prevent the inevitable blood hunt.
A woman runs an 'establishment' for gay servicemen during World War Two in Scotland. A Scottish and an American serviceman meet and spend the night together there.
Jamie leaves the children's home to live with his paternal grandmother. After working in a mine and in a tailor's shop, he is conscripted into the RAF, and goes to Egypt, where he is befriended by Robert, whose undemanding companionship releases Jamie from self-pity.
A bereaved brother is troubled by memories of his twin who died at sea. Having returned to his childhood home, a Christmas celebration with his brother’s widow and her son goes horribly awry, as dark secrets and sibling rivalries return to haunt them - before the past can be laid to rest.
Two underprivileged Glaswegian youngsters are caught up in sectarian gang warfare after discovering crates stuffed with banknotes in the basement they use for a clubhouse.
Everybody tells Onnie to steer clear of Patsy Gallaher, that he's bad news, but Onnie doesn't see it. Gallaher is Onnie's friend, and he believes friends should be loyal to one another.
A profile from 1972 of celebrated Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid on the occasion of his 80th birthday. In this film he talks about his uncompromising life and the ideas and circumstances that have shaped its progress.
